Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/401

344 man on the rope means a serious decrease of the extreme speed at which the party can move, and it is in speed, and in speed alone, that a party so surprised can hope for safety. In 1871 Mr. Tuckett*s party were nearly swept away by a great avalanche falling from the Eiger, and he attributes his escape, in no small measure, to the fact that the party was not roped, and had, in consequence, much greater power of rapid movement than would otherwise have been the case.

Of course if an incompetent man is included, the rope must be worn constantly, and at least two sound and reliable mountaineers must be watching over his idiosyncrasies; but parties so hampered should avoid such gullies as that ascended on the way up the Schreckorn, or the pitiless slopes of the Italian side of the Col des Hirondelles.

There is one other condition in which the rope seriously increases the risks of competent mountaineers. In the event of an avalanche being started, a roped party is almost helpless. It may be frequently possible for any one of the party to escape from the seething snow, but he is, if roped, of necessity dragged back by his companions. In such a case escape from the avalanche is only possible if all can jump from the sliding snow on the same side and at the same moment, and even then only if they can free the rope from the wet masses of snow in which it is certain to have